MOVIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST

★★★★ ★ Release Date: May 11, 2012 Director: Nadine Labaki Producers: Nadine Labaki, Anne- Dominque Toussaint  Main Cast: Nadine Labaki, Claude Baz Moussawbaa, Leyla Hakim, Julian Farhat Where Do We Go Now? is a Lebanese film following this small isolated village occupied with both Muslims and Christians during the civil war. The women in the village do what they can to prevent the news of the war getting to the men in the village. They go as far to bring Ukrainian dancers in order to keep the men distracted and occupied. The film is full of different emotions, and will have you crying one  second, and laughing the next. Throughout the film religion is highly spotlighted, singing a light on the anger they have toward each other.  I did not have the highest of expectations for this film, as it beige a musical. But I was Pleasantly surprised with this film. I found the usage of humor to be so comforting, and really lighthearted in the midst...

★★★☆☆ Release date: November 22, 2023 Director: Shady Hanna  Producers: Tanya Nasr  Main Cast: Junaid Zeineldine, Rola Beksmati, Abboudy Mallah What did I mess is a romantic comedy about a couple named Naylah and Fares who want to get married and settle down, but both have different time lines for these goals. While Naylah was ready and wanting to get married, Fares wasn't ready for that financial commitment- or wanting kids and needed to wait. Because the timing wasn't working for them, they ended up breaking up. A few months later at a dinner, party, Fares is encountered with Naylah but with a new, handsome, very rich- and ready to get married, named Sylvio. This, predictably made Fares very jealous and that led to the rest of the night, and movie I chaos. I gave this movie a three star because I didn't hate it but it wasn't my favorite. Although awfully predictable and cheesy, I find these romantic comedies to be very comforting. I think there's something about a...

✯✯✯✯✯ Release Date: September 13, 2013  Director: Haifaa Al-Monsour Producers: Gehard Meixnar, Amr Alkahtani, Roman Paul Main Cast: Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Abdullrahman Al Gohani Wadjda is the first film in Saudi Arabia to be directed by a women, and it did not disappoint. The film follows a ten year old girl who lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Living in a very conservative and  religious city, she goes to a school that is just the same. Wadjda doesn't fit in with the other girls at her school; she is told not to wear her converse, to wear a proper hijab and be like everyone else. Wadjda gets fixated on owning a bike like all of her guys friends, and wants to race them and own her own bicycle. Her mother was against this, and so would not help with the funds. To Wadjda's favor, her mother was very dusrcated with her romantic life, trying to convince her husband not to marry a ...

  ✯✯✯✯✯ release date: September 4, 2009 Director: Cherien Dabis Producers:   Christina Piovesan, Al-Zain Sabah, Paul Barkin  Main Cast : Melkar Muallem, Nisreen Faour, Hiam Abbass, Jenna Kawar, Alia Kawar Although an overall predictable movie, I give this film five stars. I was actually so excited to watch Amreeka when I see that it starred Hiam  Abbas, I have loved her in other shows and she was just as good in this. I found to be the mother son dynamic to be very relatable which made it even more enjoyable to watch. This film highland a struggle that is very commonly found in immigrant families, but not talked about enough. Despite the fact that the mother had two degrees and spoke multiple languages, she still struggled to get hired for jobs even in her field of study.  This movie shines a light on an immigrant family simply working as hard as they can in order to live like the common America. T...